Kalshi, cofounders hit with criminal charges in US state of Utah

What the report says

Utah has brought criminal charges against prediction market platform Kalshi and its co-founders, chief executive Tarek Mansour and chief operating officer Luana Lopes Lara, accusing them of promoting illegal online gambling. According to Al Jazeera’s report, state Attorney General Derek Brown filed the case in a Salt Lake City court on Wednesday, one day after the Trump administration sought to stop Utah from pursuing civil enforcement against the company.

The criminal complaint says Kalshi allowed an undercover law enforcement officer to place wagers on sports events, including NFL games. Utah alleges 12 counts of online gambling promotion, one count of general gambling promotion and one count of pattern of unlawful activity. Kalshi and the attorney general’s office did not immediately comment, the report said.

The charges follow an August ruling by a federal judge that Utah could enforce its anti-gambling laws against online prediction markets after Kalshi tried to block the state’s action. The case is part of a broader dispute in the US over whether prediction markets are regulated by states or by the federal Commodity Futures Trading Commission. That federal regulator filed its own lawsuit this week to block Utah’s enforcement efforts, while several states have argued the agency lacks authority over these platforms.